The US Federal Aviation Administration has proposed three rule changes and issued a final rule to streamline commercial space launch and reentry licensing. The proposals address flight-abort requirements and the assessment of risks from vehicle breakup during random reentry. The measures accompany plans to expand the FAA’s commercial space office and begin a broader licensing framework overhaul in 2027, as the agency prepares for an anticipated 1,000 launches a year by 2030.
The proposed changes would clarify when an abort is required, allow operators to switch abort capability on or off during flight under specified conditions, and let them account for vehicle breakup when assessing the risk of multiple casualties during random reentry. The final rule makes technical corrections to existing commercial-space regulations. The proposals are not yet binding requirements.
The FAA also plans to add an Associate Administrator and a team of aerospace engineers to its Office of Commercial Space Transportation. The engineers will support safety assessments, mission authorisations and application reviews; the agency has not specified the team’s size or a detailed schedule for the 2027 overhaul. Applications for the hiring initiative are due 4 December.
The actions follow five proposed rules put forward the previous month. The US accounted for 217 of 329 commercial space launches worldwide in 2025. The Department of Transportation projects 10,000 FAA-licensed launches and reentries annually by 2035, and is also seeking input on potential spaceport locations and priority airspace for launch routes.